Beware of false prophets dressed like scientists

A recent writer cited membership in the American Geological Society (AGS) as a prerequisite for credible scientific opinion. The writer apparently did not know two things:

1. Membership in the AGS requires nothing more than a check book or credit card to pay the membership fee. Absolutely anyone can join. And some of the worst climate change-denying anti-scientists have signed up hoping to boost their credibility. However, my communications with the AGS indicate that the anti-scientists do not have the approval of the actual scientists in the group, which steadfastly maintains that climate change is real and is caused by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas (methane).

2. American farmers do not have to feed the world. If American farm subsidies did not encourage under-pricing American commodities, thus destroying or weakening the farm economy of various nations, we would not have to feed the world. For a more extensive argument about this, consult the Union of Concerned Scientists website at www.ucsusa.org.

More than two-thirds of all Americans are now concerned about climate change and want business and government to work together to reduce our use of fossil fuels. I’m one of the two-thirds. I support the enactment of a carbon tax on fossil fuels at their source: the well, mine or port of entry. Such a tax would spur investment in clean energy, creating millions of new, permanent jobs at the same time that it encouraged conservation, cleaned our air, reduced asthma incidence, prevented further environmental degradation and improved the balance of foreign trade payments, thus strengthening our economy.

The Citizens Climate Lobby goes one step further and recommends returning all the carbon tax revenue to American households, thus compensating taxpayers for any price increases.